I was waiting to meet a friend for tea at the Green Line
Café on Locust Street in West Philly. While I waited for both my tea and friend
my eyes roamed the walls scanning the pictures in various sizes that adorned
the once naked space. As I wondered to
myself who the artist was my eyes fell to the counter where my change lay for
me to gather it and came across a chic stack of business cards. These cards
belonged to none other than the café 's artist of the month, Wendy Wolf.
I grabbed her card and sent an email and within about a week
I was in her studio on 9th and spring garden I awe of all that she
does and wasn’t captured in frames at the cafe on Locust Street.
Phreedum: How
long have you been creating the kinds of pieces that were at the Green Line and
are here in your studio?
WW: I was always
into art. I went to Alfred University in New York for undergrad for ceramics. I
went to Tyler School of Art here in Philly for graduate school and received my
MFA with a concentration in print making.
I really wanted to teach art and that was a huge reason for my going to
grad school. I figured a graduate degree and teaching would provide the
security that being an artist does not traditionally provide. I graduated grad school and started a job,
not teaching, but a pay the bills and remotely close to my line of work job, and I wasn’t happy. And I wasn’t thrilled with printmaking. In
fact since graduating in 2005 I have made one print. In 2006 I came to rent this
studio space here and started creating the pieces you saw at the café and see
hanging here. I enjoy painting. I enjoy
making art out of differ raw and not so raw materials. Recently I’ve enjoyed
making jewelry.
Phreedum: What
would you consider to be a highlight for you as an artist?
WW: I make art
that people fall in love with and it’s not just something they want to hang
over their couch to take up an awkward blank space. I had a show at the Green Line
Café a few years ago and the owner’s son who must have been about 10 at the
time kept eyeing a piece that I did. His dad said he would ask almost every day
if the piece was still there and if anyone bought it. Finally, before the how
was over the boy used his own money to buy it.
A kid stalked and bought my work because he fell in love with it. It
spoke to him; he saw it as an extension of himself. If that’s not a highlight I
don’t know what is.
Phreedum: What
has been a memorable lesson you’ve learned as creative independent?
WW: Pretty much
every year around tax time I am reminded that I am so not a business person but
am an artist. I really have and continue
to work on cultivating being business savvy. I would also say that I have learned the
importance of follow through. I have missed
out on several opportunities due to my own lack of follow through.
Phreedum: What
inspires you and keeps you motivated?
WW: My tag line
is “Obsessive and repetitive artwork inspired by languages and leaves.” The
paintings that have the marks, those marks used to be words at one point. I
would take the words and then just make marks. Dot after dot, allowing me to
let go of the finished product and someone else to see it. Interpret it as they
will, ad own t for themselves.
The leaf work that you see in my art came about from a
residency that I got to be a part of. I fell in love with implementing nature
into my work. I didn’t want to hybrid the two however. You won’t see leaves
composed of dots.
I also work on many projects at once. If I focus on one thing
spontaneity doesn’t rule and spontaneity is a creative person’s best friend.
Phreedum: What
are some of the sacrifices that come with being a creative independent?
WW: For the most
part, any “extra” anything. Extra time ad money tends to go to my work. I
rarely get to socialize. I mean I try to make time, and sometimes it kind
doubles as work and play because I socialize with other artists so I get feedback
or we talk about things and I get new ideas, and I make time for my significant
other. But that’s about it. I’ve even sacrificed my health.
My eyes pop out.
WW: I’m not
saying one should. But I had thyroid cancer and I know that some of the materials
I used, especially the wax, exacerbated the condition. But yeah I think time and money are the
biggest sacrifices. I call my work as an artist a “mean little mistress.” I
love it and want it to be my primary source of income, just like one often loves
their mistress and at some point the mistress becomes the primary person to
bring fulfillment to one’s life.
Phreedum: How
does your work change the lives of others?
WW: I don’t know
if I change lives but I do believe I create moments that sustain lives. I did an
installment at the Perlman Center here in Philadelphia, a center for patients
with various health issues such as cancer. I remember being told that a cancer
patient saw my work and that it just added to their day. They identified with
the marks, the separation of them yet the meaning and the marks creating a
whole piece of art. They found beauty in being broken. As a cancer survivor,
you have to find beauty in what feels and is a pretty broken state.
Phreedum: What
advice do you have for other creative independents?
WW: Trust your
instinct. If you have a new idea, try it. The worse that could happen is it’s
not what you intended. The best that could happen is that it’s more than what you
dreamed it could have been. Start it, nurture it, and let it grow.
For more information about Wendy Wolf and her art work visit
www.thewendywolf.com
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